


Cause and Effect

by musesmistress



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-11
Updated: 2011-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-24 12:42:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/263586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesmistress/pseuds/musesmistress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From one sticky situation to another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cause and Effect

It was sudden, unexpected, and completely unintentional, or so they both thought.

Colonel Jack O'Neill didn't know how it had started, only that right now he wanted nothing more than to hold her, pull her close and caress her cheek and hair, or any part of her body he could reach. But he couldn't reach her at all, she was being pulled back by Major Samantha Carter and Doctor Daniel Jackson and the only thing that was pulsing through Jack's mind was that Daniel had his hands on her skin.

'Get your hands off her,' he bellowed and repeated it over again, fighting against the large frame of Teal'c who was forcing him back away from her; his face distorted in anger each time he shouted the line and still they ignored him. He pulled forward, hoping he could free himself from the strong grip of the tall dark man who was pulling him further and further away.

He watched in horror as Sam picked up a jacket from the floor and began to tug it onto the struggling body of Doctor Janet Fraiser. He didn't take in the fact that she was in the same state as he was, fighting with all her strength against Daniel and hitting wildly at Sam in an effort to get free, to get to him, he only took in her form, her brown hair, falling loosely around her face, her high cheek bones, and her delicate skin.

His eyes roamed down past Sam, taking in her powerful arms, her firm and exposed breasts, her tight stomach, shapely hips and gloriously bare legs. She was beautiful, to him at least and he knew that there was no way on any planet anyone would be able to disagree, especially if they saw her as he had, flushed and full of passion as she leg go at the end of their love making.

He was naked too, and he ignored the breeze of the planet as Teal'c struggled to keep him away from her, all the while he screamed at Daniel to let her go, just so he could be sure the doctor wouldn't touch her anywhere that wasn't personally his to caress.

Struggling, Jack attempted to make sense of the situation, what had happened, why were they here, where was here?

They were on a planet, he remembered, he wasn't sure exactly how they ended up on this planet, they were meant to be somewhere else, somewhere with sick people that Janet could tend to, but they were here, alone. The gate hadn't been working, so Sam and Daniel had set to work fixing it; Teal'c had wondered off in search of shelter for the night as the sun quickly set behind the vast trees, and he had invited Janet to take a stroll and look for food.

She had stopped by a plant, a very pretty one at that and he had mentally compared it to her, pretty yes, but not as beautiful as the doctor in his company. The plant had whipped in the wind and she had caught on the pollen in the centre, a sticky substance she crumpled her nose at and turned to look at him.

"Don't look at me, I'm not cleaning it off," he had joked and she had suddenly and playfully reached out and wiped it on his bare arm. They had continued, moving off down a pathway that seemed curiously man made for a planet filled with trees, their conversation changing from various things on Earth, to Janet's daughter Cassandra, to how they managed to always get into some sort of "sticky situation" and onto relationships.

He didn't remember what she said that made him act, or even if it was something she said, or just something he wanted to do, but without warning, he had taken her by the lapels of her jacket and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

Janet was shocked at first, the kiss was unexpected, but she turned it back on him, parting her lips for him and allowing his tongue to dart into her waiting warmth, but it didn't stop there, hands began to roam over bodies, through hair, across already exposed skin. Jack began to walk forward, backing her up until she was pressed against a tree trunk on the strange world.

Hurriedly Jack had pulled the zipper down on her vest and pulled it harshly off her shoulders before he pulled her jacket open and planted his lips firmly on the skin of neck and shoulder. His hands continued down, pulling open her bra before he'd even taken in the fact that it was clasped at the front and shoved both Jacket and bra off her shoulders and to the floor.

He registered for a second that she had a shirt on under the jacket and was about to question why when Janet had pulled him back for another searing kiss. Hurriedly, as if any minute now someone would come to separate them forever, they stripped each other of their clothes, dropping them haphazardly over the ground around their feet.

Jack shifted, bending down low enough to comfortably kiss along her shoulder blade, his eyes wondering down her exposed body, her delicate skin, her shapely figure, her firm breasts, he was taken in, and there was no escape. He moved down again, kissing along her breast bone as his hands cupped her firm globes and his fingers brushed against her taunt nipples, he moved down over her firm stomach and down to her sex.

He looked up as she sucked in a breath in anticipation and then, without warning, he darted his tongue out to taste her, his eyes drifted up as she shifted to lean heavily on the tree, his tongue darting out to tease and his fingers caressing up her thighs. She shifted again, rocking her hips against his face as he licked hungrily at her, wanting to taste every inch of her sex, dip his tongue inside her and find the hard nub that caused her to take a sharp breath in to her lunges and exhale it with a long low hiss.

He had been ignoring the throb of his penis as it twitched at her pleasure, but before long it grew to be too much and he stood up and slid two fingers into Janet's welcoming tunnel.

He studied her, his fingers shifting within her, as she leaned against the tree, her eyes closed, her face relaxed, and her hips twitching with pleasure that seemed to spread through her entire body, causing her to twitch as her delicate fingers sought him out, her hands on his chest before moving down to wrap solidly around his manhood.

'Janet,' Jack whispered in her ear. He slipped his fingers from her sex and took his erection from her and positioned himself at her entrance.

'I need you Jack,' Janet opened her eyes as she said the words, making eye contact with him, 'I want you,' she added and shifted her hips forward to take him inside her as far as she could manage.

He pulled back, his hands gripping her hips as he slipped from her tunnel, the warmth washing through his body in a wave of extreme pleasure, like nothing he'd ever felt before, he couldn't believe his own reaction at retracting.

She looked dejected as he met her eyes, unwanted, and unloved despite the fact that he had started it all. He leaned in carefully and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, his hands moving up from her hips to run lightly over her sides and up to her shoulders where her took a firm hold and pulled her closer to him.

She groaned as he increased the kiss and she fit her whole body against his and marvelling at the feel of his rough skin on her own soft surface, her nipples rubbing against his light dusting of hairs, her legs brushing his and his cock trapped against her stomach.

They pulled apart and Janet reached for him again, pulling him into her body and sinking delicately onto his length, he had been forced to bend his knees to accommodate for her height, but as soon as he was completely inside her he had wrapped his arms low around her waist and hoisted her off the ground to slam against the tree.

Urgent thrusts followed, and they both panted as he kept up a fast pace pulling deliciously out and forcing hungrily back inside.

"Oh my God," they ignored it, the shocked voice of Sam washing over them as they continued. They ignored as she radioed for help and moved closer to them, asking what was going on, reminding them of their duty, threatening them with the inevitable court martial that would follow their actions, but they heard none of it.

Jack continued to pump into her body, felling her climax building and vaguely registered as Sam turned away from them and disappeared into the trees.

"We need to help the Colonel and Janet," Sam had said as she emerged from the trees with Daniel and Teal'c.

"They do not appear to require any help," Jack remembered the urged to laugh at this, but it was over-shadowed by Janet as she began to force her hips back against him, the sweet sounds of pleasure oozing from her lips with each thrust, he turned them out again and concentrated all his efforts on making her come.

The hands on his back were unwelcome and he caught sight of Daniel and Sam on either side of Janet, they took hold of her as she came and Jack pulled away from the hands and leaned into her neck, letting himself go inside her.

Sam had cringed and moved momentarily away before Daniel had reminded her why they needed to separate; they needed to get them home and now. Hands were back and they were being force apart.

Now, Jack felt someone forcing his trousers onto his body and he kicked out catching Daniel in the face with a bootless foot, it had unsettled the linguist for a moment but eventually he returned to the task, pulling his trousers up and fastened them before turning and heading into the forest and back to the gate.

~~**~~

It must have taken them a long time to reach the gate, he and Janet had been walking for almost an hour before it had started, but with him and her struggling all the way, desperate to separate from the hands that held them, get their bodies closer together and back to their previously naked state, it probably took them a lot longer.

He didn't know why, but he did know that right now, he was in an isolation room, strapped to the bed and he felt none of the anger he had given off back on the planet. He wondered where Janet was, if she was in a similar situation to his was, pinned and confused.

Above all of those current feelings, there was something lingering, he wanted to be with her still, he wanted to lie beside her and run his fingers gently over her skin, kiss her lightly, entwine his digits in hers, and make slow, sweet love to her.

He heard the door open to his right and the heavy familiar footfalls of General George Hammond approaching him.

'Colonel,' he said looking down at Jack, 'Major Carter tells me that you and Doctor Fraiser were found in a compromising position.'

'Yes sir, apparently we were,' Jack said brazenly, he couldn't work out why or even how it had started, he just knew that it had been sudden, and he had been completely unable to stop himself.

'Do you mind explaining yourself Colonel?'

'Wish I could sir, but I don't know what happened myself,' Jack gave him his usual cheeky "I'm not joking" smile.

'Major Carter tells me that you were both unresponsive to her questioning, but she also said when they tried to pull you apart, you refused to separate.'

'I remember that… sir.'

'I need to know what happened out there Jack,' the General said, his temper at Jack's calm and elusive manner beginning to tug on his patience.

'I'd like to know that too, I don't usually make a habit of jumping on pretty ladies, especially if I'm their commanding officer for the day,' Jack smiled again and then coyly added, 'Major Carter can testify to that.'

General Hammond merely looked at him, confused and completely at a loss for what to do, he could reprimand them both, put them through a court martial or, as his gut instinct was pushing, he could put the whole situation down to something that was on that planet that they had come in contact with.

'Can I go now sir, I have a bruised ego to tend to,' Jack said, more quietly and with a touch of hurt in his voice.

'I need to speak with Doctors Fraiser and Warner first Jack, just sit tight.'

~~**~~

She hated everything, she couldn't understand it, three weeks had passed and all she had to show for it were the tired eyes that looked back at her in the mirror, her hands resting on the sink of the locker room, she idly wondered if she really looked this gaunt to anyone else, or if it was just her imagination.

She felt sick to her stomach, her head was spinning and she wanted to do nothing more right now that go home, so it was a good thing it was the end of the day, she just had to push past the sickly feeling and move.

'Janet?' Sam questioned stepping into Janet's view in the mirror, 'you okay?'

Janet sucked in a slow deep breath and moved away from the sink to turn and look at her friend, she forced a smile on her face that, by the look Sam returned, wasn't convincing at all.

'What's up?' Sam asked, looking concerned.

'Bad day,' Janet said, not adding the fact that the Colonel had managed to show up in the infirmary for his routine check up when she had gone to attempt lunch. He had managed to avoid her for the past three weeks; he was so good at it, that half the time she wondered if he had a spy in the infirmary that told him when she wasn't around.

'Wanna share?' Sam offered linking her arm with Janet's as they began to head out the door and towards the elevator. 'Talking might help.'

Janet smiled fondly at her friend but said nothing, she wanted to talk, and she needed to in fact. She wanted to talk over what had happened three weeks ago, off world with Colonel Jack O'Neill, but she didn't want to talk to Sam about it or even Daniel or Teal'c, she wanted to talk to Jack.

The first elevator ride was done in silence, Sam was obviously considering her words carefully, they passed from one lift to the next and half way up Janet watched as Major Carter reached out and hit the "stop" button.

'You know,' Sam started and Janet looked away from her, 'you two are driving us insane, you both want to talk, but when someone offers, you both bite your tongue.' Sam moved to other side of the elevator and leaned against the wall leaving Janet standing in the middle of the small room.

'I wouldn't know where to start,' Janet offered feebly, she couldn't very well admit that she had feelings for Jack, that she had no regrets about what had happened, or even that she still thought about it, how it felt when he first entered her, how when he pulled closer to her and away from the others that the angle of his penetration had changed delightfully to make her come.

'You've been avoiding each other.'

'I haven't been avoiding anything, Sam, he's been avoiding me,' the frustration was clear, she could hear it and so there was no way her best friend would miss it.

'Then explain to me what happened two days ago, when you saw him coming and disappeared into a science lab.'

Janet blushed and thought back, the smile that was threatening to creep onto her face. She had seen Jack and Sam heading her way and thought neither of them had seen her as she vanished through a door into an empty science lab. It wasn't to avoid him; it was that she'd just sat over lunch running through the events that had taken place off world.

'Janet, I'm not blind, or deaf, or even stupid, I can see that there's an attraction,' Sam said and Janet's head snapped up to look at her, 'you two need to talk about this, or you'll be avoiding each other forever; and driving me and Daniel bonkers.'

Sam crossed the room again and paused short of pressing the button to continue.

'He's at home right now, I know he's not going anywhere,' she turned to face Janet, 'go talk to him, get it over with.'

'I have to get back to Cassie.'

'Excuses,' Sam said smiling, 'what are aunties for if they can't baby-sit?'

~~**~~

"Oh God no" Jack thought as his eyes drifted over the car as it pulled into the drive way, "please God no!!" Jack cringed as she watched the elegant woman climb from the driver seat and shut the door.

He looked quickly around as if hunting for somewhere to hide, his body reacting to the thoughts and memories that ran though his brain, he really wanted to hide, but it didn't matter; his truck was outside, she knew he was there. He darted across the room and picked up the beer bottles that were scattered across the table, before running into the kitchen and dropping them into the bin.

Jack spun, staring at the front door, she had knocked, and he stood staring at it praying she would get nervous and walk away. His heart was thumping in his chest, his eyes darting around the room, his palms sweaty, his erection throbbing and pushing against his trousers and was having trouble breathing.

"Get a grip Jack" he told himself and ran his hands through his hair before taking a deep breath and approaching the green wood that made up his front door.

'Doc,' Jack greeted with a slightly puzzled look on his face, 'what brings you to this neck of the woods?'

'We need to talk Colonel,' she said hoping he wouldn't skirt the topic.

'I thought we were talking, Doctor,' He regretted the comment as soon as he finished it and Janet's head dropped, he shifted uncomfortably, very aware that his erection was showing through his jeans. He let out a little sigh and stepped aside. 'Come on,' he said nodding inside and towards the living room, 'you want something to drink?' he offered, 'beer, beer cocktail, or beer?'

'How about water,' she asked not thinking much of the options.

'Sure,' he said with a smile, 'I must have some of that somewhere.'

Jack moved around the kitchen quickly and haphazardly, he got her drink and moved quickly into the living room to set it down before his hands began to shake. He sat down opposite her and waited, not wanting to start the conversation as the only thing he actually had to say about what happened was something along the lines of "Take your clothes off so we can do it again".

Janet's head was still hung low, she was fiddling with the edge of her jacket which for some reason she still had on, and he watched her hands intently remember the feel of them wrapped around his ridged length. He blinked quickly, clapped his hands in front of him and puffed out the excess breath that he had sucked in.

'So,' he started, just as uncomfortable as she seemed. Silence once again followed and Jack looked around the room wondering if there was anything he could say to break the tension; he couldn't think of a thing, his cock was throbbing, he could only think of how it would feel to plunge it back into her hot, wet tunnel.

His head snapped back to Janet, he'd heard her sniff or sob or something, her head was still low, but she had abandoned the edge of her coat.

'Janet?' he questioned lightly and was startled when she got abruptly up and swayed on the spot for a second before moving towards the door.

'Maybe I should just go,' she said and Jack couldn't stop himself as he lunged from the chair and blocked her path.

'No, wait…'

'Sir, I…'

'I love you,' Jack clamped his mouth shut; he hadn't thought those words, how could he have possibly said them. He watched her; she had looked at him instantly, her beautiful big brown eyes fixing on his, searching, he contemplated what she was searching for. Proof? Confirmation? Reaction?

His eyes drifted to her lips, full and parted in shock, and he fought off the urge to taste them again, to know the contrast of her lipstick, to feel her tongue in his own mouth, to flick his tongue against the roof of hers as he had done before.

Janet took a step back and Jack instinctively reached out for her, he caught her arm and moved in close to her, his face only millimetres from hers, he held her gaze, softening his as best he could before he whispered to her.

'I don't want you to leave, Janet.'

He ran his hands down her arms to her hands as he watched for any kind of response, he circled his fingers on her lose palms before running them back up her arms to her shoulder where he eased her coat off and deposited it on the nearest chair.

'I love you,' he said again before leaning carefully in and brushing his lips against hers, he pulled back, watching her face as her eyes opened to look at him and he caught the brief longing look she gave him before he moved back in and kissed her passionately.

He felt her moan into his mouth and every lingering thought dissipated instantly, he had been thinking this was very wrong, that if they were caught they would have to face a court marital, that she'd lose her promotion to Major or worse, she'd be forced to leave the SGC, he had started mentally writing his resignation letter when she had moaned.

He was captivated as she slowly began to respond to him, her arms reaching up around his neck pulling him closer, the single step it took for her to press the whole of her body against his and just as he was about to wonder if she would miss his obvious enjoyment of the situation he felt her hips press harder against him. He pulled back, gasping for air as he took in her flushed face and beautiful eyes.

'Janet,' he started, but she hushed him with a finger to the mouth before she moved her hands to the top of her shirt and pulled off the lapels and started undoing the buttons.

For the first time, Jack realised she was still in uniform, but that thought vanished quickly as Jack caught sight of her bra between her slowly parting uniform shirt. Jack watched intently as she reached the bottom and un-tucked it from her skirt and without thinking about it, he reached up to her shoulders again and eased the item off letting it drop to the floor.

They moved towards each other and kissed again, and Jack once again felt her moan into him as his rough hands drifted across her lower back; he sucked in a breath of his own as he felt her hands on his stomach, pushing up under his t-shirt, her fingers tracing a path naughtily up to his chest and she tweaked one of his nipples before running back down to take the end of his top and raise it.

She stretched to lift it over his head and as her fingers brushed over his hands he gripped her wrists, tugging her arms up to show he wanted them to stay there, before he drew back down her arms in small lazy circles, down past her arm pits and down her sides. Jack reached the hem of her skirt and wrapped his hands around her hips and he was grateful as her arms wrapped around his neck.

He glided back up and took her wrists from around his neck and pulled slowly backwards, guiding her to his bedroom without looking away from her.

Inside the bedroom, things picked up; Jack's lips found her chest while his hands made quick work of her bra and moved down her spine to her skirt, he let his fingers float over her skin as he hunting for the zip and dropped the clothes to the floor.

He paused, taking the sight of her in, little white cotton panties, garter belt and stockings, he groaned in appreciation and turned her sharply and pushing her back onto the bed.

Jack crouched down in front of her and ran his hands up her thighs, his eyes following the path of his fingers until he caught sight of her panting stomach. She was breathing hard at his touch, but he didn't stop, he moved up, taking hold of the elastic on her underwear, he pulled at them and she raised up to let him remove them.

'God, you're beautiful,' he said his eyes moving everywhere on her body, taking in every curve, every scar and every blemish.

He stood and removed his trousers and boxers before kneeling back on the floor and leaning in to suck one of her nipples into his mouth, she arched and Jack followed her as she lay back on the bed, his body drifting up hers until his cock pressed into her slick sex.

They both moaned and began their movements against each other; Jack squeezed his eyes shut at the feel of her, he couldn't believe he was here again, consciously aware of what he was doing and very much aware of how turned on she was at his movements.

He pulled back, littering her stomach with small kisses and feeling her breath hitch as he laid his path down to her sex where he slipped his tongue into her pussy lips and ran it through the length of her, stabbing at her flexing tunnel and flicking lightly at her clit before retracing his way back up her body to kiss her.

Their movements against each other began again and Jack broke the kiss, he couldn't concentrate on anything which he was against her, the head of his cock brushing her clit, he couldn't think at all, not even to breathe.

'Jack,' she breathed and shifted her hips and Jack felt himself brush against her entrance, 'oh God Jack,' she hissed and repeated the movement. A long moan was released and she shifted again and he took the opportunity.

His hands gripped her hips tightly as she moved to set him against her tunnel and he pushed, easing himself slowly into her warmth.

Janet arched against him, and Jack watched her face as best he could as she pushed back on the bed, her lips parted in a continuous moan of pleasure and her brow furrowed.

He pulled his gaze away from her and wrapped his tongue around her nipple as he began to move, thrusting slowly into her, his feet as leverage on the floor. He was in paradise, he didn't know it was possible to feel this good; she was hot and tight around him, and her hips twitched against him with each slowly increasing thrust.

He felt her muscles tighten and he abandoned her nipple and rested his head between her breasts. He was gonna come any minute now and there was no way he would be able to pull out of her, he didn't want to for a start, ever, he could live in there. He picked up the pace and with all the effort he could muster he looked up her face.

Tittering on the edge of ecstasy, Jack breathed her name out and pushed in hard, feeling her internal muscles clamp down on him as they came together, groaning, panting and the last sounds of flesh against flesh and Jack pumped into her a few more times before they both collapsed.

'I love you, Jack,' he heard her breath before he moved to her side and closed his eyes.

~~**~~

She had dreamed it, it can't have been real, the rules, regulations forbid it, they forbade it the first time around, but they managed to get away with that. But this was different, if she wasn't dreaming then she had come here, to his home, and they had done it again.

She moved, and felt his flesh against her back. Not a dream, definitely not a dream. She moved again and wave of horrible sickening dizziness washed over her, she opened her eyes and Jack's room came swimming into view, a door ahead of her taking her interest as she could see the bath tub through the gap.

She squeezed her eyes shut willing the nausea to go away, relaxing her whole body and taking a few slow deep breaths. It was useless, she was only delaying the inevitable, she was up, out of the bed and through the bathroom door just her stomach churned and she threw up.

She coughed and relaxed on the floor, her elbows on the seat of the toilet and her head resting in her hands; she heard the tap running behind her and jumped slightly as Jack's hand rested on her shoulder and he offered her a glass of water.

'I'm sorry,' he said and left the room.

She sipped her water before slowly climbing to her feet and rinsing her mouth out at the sink, her mind working furiously at why Jack had apologised. She supposed she should have explained why she was ill, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it, if she said aloud to him, she would finally admit to herself what was wrong - why she had been ill for three weeks, why she always felt dizzy and sick.

She left the bathroom moments later to find the bedroom empty, her clothes neatly piled on the bed for her; she heard movement from outside the room and wondered if Jack would go back to avoiding her again or if he would actually talk to her now.

She dressed quickly and glanced at the clock on his bedside, it was late in the morning, and she bit her lip wondering what kind of welcome would wait for her at home, Sam must have realised she had spent the night here by now.

She stepped out into the hall and moved towards the kitchen; Jack was there, his back to her and a cup on the table.

'I made you a coffee,' he said not turning around.

'Jack,' she questioned her mind fighting for a reason for him to be acting as if he were to blame for something. Did he regret last night? Had he regretted their actions weeks ago?

Tears stung at her eyes and she moved quickly around the table ignoring her coffee and wrapped her arms around him. He tried to separate her hands but she refused to let him.

'Jack, what's wrong?'

He gave in and she felt him slump over in her arms, she rested her head on his back and waited.

'Was it a mistake?' he asked her.

'No, I…'

'Janet,' he interrupted her need to tell him how much she really did love him, 'I made you sick.'

Janet pulled away, slightly confused, and watched him, he was leaning heavily against the work surface, she had no choice; he would hate himself if she didn't say it.

'I love you Jack, with every beat of my heart, nothing will change that,' she watched as he glanced over his shoulder at her, 'I don't regret last night, it was the most amazing thing I've ever done; I've never felt that good.'

Jack glanced back again and Janet reached out to catch his face and pull him to face her, she stretched up on her tip toes and kissed him. She smiled at him as she pulled away, and then let the smile fade.

'I've been sick for almost two weeks, Jack, I think…' she took a deep breath and forced herself to look him in the eye, 'I think I might be pregnant.'

~~**~~

Jack pulled his hand roughly over his face then reached out to open the infirmary door, he stepped inside and crossed the room to Janet's office where he knocked lightly and waited. The door opened but it wasn't Janet the greeted him.

'Carter,' he said in way of a greeting and watched almost horrified as Sam glanced at Janet with a coy smile on her face and passed him on her way of the room with a small "sir".

He stepped in, his eyes taking in the professional manner of the woman he was in love with, he glance out the door before pushing it too, but not closing it fully and then moved to sit in the chair in front of her desk.

'Did you do the test?' he asked, he'd been confused when Janet had said there was a possibility she was pregnant, he wondered if she was crazy at that moment, but then their first encounter had come flooding wonderfully back to mind, the planet of trees, the taste of her body, the feel of her coming on him while he struggled not to be separated from her.

'No, not yet, I've been busy this morning, SG-11 came back with multiple injuries; I've only just managed to sit down,' as she said this Jack noticed the colour drain from her face, 'I will get to it, I promise.'

Jack moved from his chair and circled her desk to crouch in front of her; he took in her eyes as she blinked trying hard to focus on him as the room spun around her. He reached up and cupped her chin, waiting, letting the nausea pass before he reached up and kissed her.

'You'll…' Jack broke off as the door to her office opened; he caught sight of General Hammond as he stepped into the room and then turned abruptly and stepped out, closing the door behind him. 'Crap,' Jack spat and let his body feel like jelly as he rested his head in Janet's lap, not wanting or willing to move.

'You'll come find me when you know?' he asked, after a moment pulling up, kissed her again and heading out of the room after catching her nod.

Jack paused outside the General's office, his hand poised, ready to knock, but he had yet to make the move; this could be it, the time that resignation letter would come in handy. He didn't care about losing his post at that moment in time; he'd be retired once before, he could do it again, so long as Janet came home to him each night.

He took a deep breath and rapped lightly on the door; he heard the muffled "come in" from Hammond and opened the door to step in before he lost his nerve.

'Sir, I…'

'Colonel Checkov is arriving tomorrow with several delegates for international relations and the replacement for the Russian SG team, perhaps you or Doctor Jackson could give them the tour,' General Hammond said cutting Jack off before he could start explaining.

'I'll make Daniel do it,' Jack offered giving him a discussed smile at the prospect of having to deal with the Russians, 'Sir, I…'

'Also, next week, a similar group from England and Germany will be here to set up their own SG team, Doctor Jackson may be able to do the tour again, but I will need all of SG-1 in the conference that follows. Is there a problem Jack?'

Jack opened his mouth to start again but froze, he was avoiding the topic; to the book General Hammond was avoiding the fact that he'd seen Jack kiss Janet. Why?

When he thought about it, Jack couldn't really careless, half way across the other side of the base, a woman he loved was probably right this second was finding out if she was carrying his baby, and that weighed heavily on his mind.

'No sir, just wanted to make sure… you were… ready for the delegates,' he smiled fondly at the General and turned his back to leave the room.

'Jack,' Hammond called and Jack paused, his eyes closed considering for a moment that he had changed his mind about ignoring the situation, 'don't be late for your mission briefing tomorrow morning.'

'0700 hours General,' Jack said smiling at the man over his should and then left hurriedly.

Out in the corridor, Jack made a hasty retreat towards his office, but was stopped by an airman. He raised an eyebrow at the young man who stopped him, saluted and then began rambling about being needed somewhere; it occurred to the Colonel that the man was new on base and somewhat nervous, so he reached out and placed a hand on the mans shoulder.

'Sergeant, take a deep breath,' he said then waited a moment, 'now, who wants to see me?'

'Doctor Fraiser, Sir, she said it was urgent.'

'Crap,' Jack said and turned away from the officer before he could continue his message and began to run down the corridor.

Jack entered the infirmary and looked quickly around, no sign of the doctor anywhere. He darted across to her office and stopped in the doorway, not there either, he turned on the spot until someone calling to him made him swing back.

'Colonel.'

'Carter.'

'You look like you're in a hurry sir,' Sam said, she was sat on the bed watching him while a nurse drew a blood sample.

'You seen the doc?' he asked knowing he sounded rushed and anxious, but having very little care for it at that moment in time.

'Doctor Fraiser said she was going to iso room 4 a few minutes ago sir,' the nurse said as Sam shook her head at him. Jack turned and knocked over a passing nurse before walking at top speed from the room.

He didn't see the two women exchange a look and Sam attempt to suppress the grin from her face.

'Janet?' Jack stepped quickly into the room and took in the back of the small woman sitting atop the bed in the centre of the room.

'Shut the door please,' she said and Jack complied.

With the door shut, he turned back to her but didn't move; he just waited; and waited.

'Janet?'

'I can't do it,' her voice was small and timid. Jack's brow creased, what couldn't she do? He took a single step forward. 'The General walked in on us,' she said, shifting to make sure she couldn't see him, 'Sam's been trying to corner me all morning about where I was last night,' she heaved a sigh, 'Cassie's probably not going to talk to me for a few weeks because I missed movie night.'

Jack moved forward again and placed his hands on the bed, he wouldn't claim to understand what was going through her head at the moment, but he did understand that suddenly it all seemed too much. Their sudden lunge into a relationship, her adopted daughter, her best friend and to top it off, her military career. He reached out after a moment, placing his hand carefully on the small of her back.

'We can slow down, if that's what you want Janet.'

'I'm pregnant Jack,' Jack took in a silent breath and puffed it out quickly.

'Positive?'

Jack followed her arm as she pointed towards a cupboard to her left, he moved over and found a pregnancy test laying on top of it in plain view, the result clearly showing that she was in fact carrying his baby.

He moved away from the cabinet and circled the bed to stand facing her, his hands resting on hers as she clutched the edge of the bed while she leaned forward. Jack ran his hands up her covered arms until he could draw a finger across her jaw and raise her chin.

When she finally met his eyes, he smiled at her before dropping his hands down to her lap and rubbing her thighs, running circles up until he could skip over her hips and rest his hands awkwardly on her stomach.

'The General's ignoring what he saw, I tried to talk to him, but he changed the subject on me every time. If the air force gets in the way of us, then I'll resign so we can stay together and you can stay here,' Jack raised one hand to place a finger over her parted lips when she began to protest. 'Cassandra we can talk to, she'll understand, she's a smart kid,' his hand went back to her stomach, 'and we can tie Carter to a chair and gag her.'

She snorted in laughter and Jack couldn't help but think it made her face light up, any normal situation, Jack could have stripped her down and taken her, but she was still worried and it showed despite the laughter, and she was carrying his baby.

'One thing at a time, Janet, normally I'd say lets go see Hammond, but I'm favouring that we tie Carter up first.'

Janet leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder and she shook with laughter, Jack had to move his hands from her stomach and run them up her back. Before he reached her neck, Jack realised something had changed, she wasn't laughing anymore, she was crying, instinctively he moved forward and pulled her into him.

~~**~~

Jack had simply let her cry; she needed it; for a whole month everything seemed to go from bad, to worse, to worse still. She was thankful that he didn't try and talk her down; she had cleaned up, disposed of the pregnancy test and stepped out to head back to the infirmary.

Sam had stopped her before she had stepped in and Janet had made short work of convincing Sam to let the topic drop, and then added that Jack had threatened to tie her down and gag her if she didn't.

She wrote her own report and presented it in person to General Hammond, waiting for his verdict on the matter of her unborn baby, but it hadn't come straight away. George Hammond had asked her to come back and she had spent two agonising hours waiting for the clock to tick over to her report back time.

Jack had taken up the challenge of talking to Cassandra and had promised to make up for her missed movie night; the result of which had him over their house each night to watch a girly teen movie with her, something Janet had found completely entertaining all night when he stayed.

'Cassie,' Janet called up the stairs three months later and heard no response from her teenage daughter, she walked to the door and pulled it open to look outside.

So far, in the last three months, Jack and Janet had kept their relationship quiet from everyone but the members of SG-1 and Cassandra, Janet had been kept at the SGC with the understanding that when she reached six months in her pregnancy she would take up work at the Academy Hospital instead of Cheyenne Mountain.

'Cassie, you promised you'd be ready,' Janet called again looking up the stairs.

'I am, I am,' Cassandra said stomping out of her room and starting down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she paused and reached out to pat Janet's slightly swollen stomach before grabbing her coat and stepping out onto the front porch.

The idea of being caught had forced Jack and Janet to take a few precautions, at work; they remained apart as much as possible, stealing kisses from each other behind closed doors or drawn infirmary curtains. Outside they were usually only together in either of their homes, but Jack had promised Cassandra a monthly trip to the cinema, her choice of movie and Janet had been duped into going as well.

She'd learned quickly that these trips were perfect, Jack used the opportunity of a teen movie to wrap his arm around Janet's shoulder and place the other hand tenderly on her stomach. He would be getting the shock of a lifetime today, it had been a full month since he had managed that kind or contact with her body, and Janet's uniform had changed to accommodate for the baby, so at work, it was hard to notice that she was pregnant.

As Janet pulled the door shut behind her and Cassie, the familiar black truck pulled up at the end of the path and Cassie darted across the drive, yanked open the gate and climbed into the back seat.

'Hey Jack,' she said having been followed down the path by her mother.

'Hey, what we seeing today kiddo?' Jack asked as he usually did and always regretting it as the answer was usually some teen love movie or something about cheerleading.

Janet smiled as they moved off from her house and Cassandra started to explain the film they were watching. They brought popcorn and Janet insisted of sitting away from it, pushing Jack to sit between her and her daughter so they could share and leave her and her stomach out of the way.

As expected, Jack got bored of the movie after the first few minutes, but sat quietly and patiently through it; Janet felt his arm sneak around her shoulder after ten minutes and his free hand rubbing gently up her arm, every now and again disappearing to snatch some popcorn. It wasn't until towards the end of the movie, that Janet, having turned to kiss him, felt his fingers brush across the bump of her belly and then felt him freeze and move completely away from her.

Janet watched him through dinner as he sat almost completely in silence while Cassie talked a mile a minute, and shortly after desert - that she couldn't finish, he got up and announced that he should be heading home.

Her breath hitched, her heart tensed and she looked confused at him; he always stayed, he always spent the night when they did the movie trip, he was never this quiet and he was definitely a lot more tactile than he had been.

He moved away without even giving her a kiss and Janet struggled to take any kind of breath into her lungs. Her eyes began to sting and she turned, left the dining room and disappeared up to her bedroom without so much as a whimper.

Cassie stood in the kitchen, Jack heading for the door, her mother looking like she was going to cry any minute now and watched in horror as Jack pulled on his coat and Janet took off up the stairs. She heard the bedroom door slam as the front door opened and her eyes fixed on the back of Jack O'Neill's head as it dropped for just a moment, and then he left.

She crossed the space between her and the door yanked it open and ran down the path to stop in front of him.

'What's going on,' she demanded. 'You were quiet all the way back, said nothing over dinner and now your leave?'

'Cassie…'

'No,' she yelled and ignored the person to her left who had stopped and turned to look at them. 'I've watched you two together for the past three months, I've left the house when you showed up so you could spend time alone together and suddenly, without any reason you're backing off?

'She's pregnant,' he said feebly.

'And?' she waited, but Jack didn't answer, 'she's carrying your baby.'

'That's the problem,' Jack snapped, 'I'm 45 Cassie, I shouldn't be having kids at my age, hell, I should be doing what I do at my age.'

Cassie watched him as he battled with a flood of emotion; her temper had dropped instantly, for being fifteen and not yet having her own child, she had a small understanding for was going on.

'I didn't even realise she started to show, she's four months along and I didn't expect it.'

She stepped forward and tucked her arms under his to wrap him in a hug, it was a moment before his hands reached her back and he waited.

'I wondered when one of you would freak out; I had my money on mom losing it first though,' she felt his chest shake as he chuckled, 'but either way, don't you think you should talk about this, instead of making her miserable?'

'I don't know what to do Cassie,' he admitted.

'You've been a dad before,' she pointed out.

'I lost my…'

'What's your biggest problem right now, your age, or that you don't want to go through what happened again?'

'He shot…'

'I know, you can change things though, make sure it doesn't happen again,' she paused pulling away from him. 'Do you want to go home Jack?''

'No.'

'Then don't, she's just as afraid of this as you are, if not for different reason, and you love each other, I can only hope I can find someone who would care for me the way you do Janet. You're willing to resign if it gets too complicated, you're willing to take the risk every so often to spend time with her,' she paused again, 'and don't think I don't know what goes on when you get bored of the movies I pick.'

Cassandra loved it when he laughed at something she said or did; her own personal audience to a developing sense of humour, a sarcasm she was easily picking up from him, Daniel and even Teal'c.

She was slightly shocked when he moved forward and kissed her cheek, but more pleased when he turned and headed back to the house.

~~**~~

Jack was allowed his moments on base with Janet, moments like this where he stood in the conference room, arse against the table and hand on her stomach as he felt the fluttering movements of his child against his palm.

Everyone on base knew the baby was his, and the information went around that it had been created under "alien influence", which he was fine with, it gave him these chances to show some form of affection.

They had both been summoned up here and had been waiting separately until the baby had unexpectedly begun to shift quickly insider her and Janet had moved quickly around the table and grabbed his hand to plant it firmly on her bump.

'You two have a problem,' Hammond said stepping out of his office. He slid a file across the table at them as they parted and Jack reached for it.

He unfolded the yellow card and found himself looking at a picture of him and Janet standing outside a teen clothing shop, they had been waiting for Cassandra when the baby had begun to kick; it was the first time Jack had felt it and he had leaned down to kiss her passionately. It was at this point that who ever had taken it had captured the image of them together.

'This picture was sent to the chief of staff,' He told them. Jack leaned forward on the table and caught Janet's movements from his side as she raised a hand to her face. 'I purposely turned a blind eye to you both, hoping you'd be more discreet about your relationship than this.'

Jack turned as Janet pulled out a chair and sat heavily down, he couldn't imagine what thoughts were running through her mind at that moment in time. Jack could retire, effective immediately, but Janet would still have to face her superiors, she had after all, been involved with a superior officer, and she had done so for over four months now.

'A delegate from the chief of staff's office will be here within the hour. I will be pleading ignorance to your relationship,' George said with a note of sadness that begged for forgiveness from them, 'I can't help you with this. I'm sorry.'

Jack watched him retreat from the room before he let his body go limp and his head came sharply in contact with the table as he bent over.

'Ow,' he muttered, his face turned away from Janet. They were stuck, they had gotten too comfortable with the fact that Carter never turned them in and that General Hammond and ignored the whole thing, and now they had been caught.

~~**~~

Jack sat patiently at the end of the conference table, his eyes fixed on the person sitting directly opposite him, out of the corner of his eye he could see Janet, sitting alone in Hammonds office, her back to the window and her head low; he could see the small movement of her right arm as she caressed her stomach while she waited.

He was having a hard time at the moment, sitting waiting for the man ahead to begin whatever reprimand he wanted to give the Colonel, and despite the fact that his impatience was climbing, Jack just sat waiting.

'Now then Colonel, according to the reports regarding the events on P5X-552, you and Doctor Fraiser where under alien influence when the baby was conceived, is that correct.'

'Yes sir,' he couldn't bring himself to say more, he would only have blurted out that he didn't care, it had felt very good regardless.

'It also says here that it was several weeks later that Doctor Fraiser discovered she was expecting, did you find out before or after her report was given to General Hammond?'

'Before,' he wondered if he should continue and tell the man half truth about how he found out. When no one continued he guessed it was required. 'Doctor Fraiser called me to her office before handing in her report to talk to me about it.'

'She didn't want to give up the baby?'

'No sir. She wanted to make sure that was okay with me.'

'And your relationship with Doctor Fraiser, Colonel, did that begin before or after that conversation?'

Jack paused, he could answer truthfully, tell the man that it had been just the night before that Janet had spent the night with him, or he could lie and say "after". Under the circumstances, he felt it best to go with the truth, in the end a lie would only lead to them in more trouble.

'Before sir; the day before.'

'One day?'

'Yes sir.'

'Could you elaborate on how that began?'

'I'd been avoiding Doc Fraiser over the few weeks, she came to see me the day before she found out and we talked sir.'

'Talked, Colonel you are not only having relations with another Air Force officer on this base, you are having relations with someone of a lower rank, what exactly did you talk about?'

Jack leaned forward on the table, annoyance with the conversation clearly paced on his face as the General sitting opposite seemed to take it all in.

'Things, sir,' Jack said, 'how we ended up in that situation off world, how we felt about each other, the fact that she through there was a possibility she was pregnant, we talked sir.'

They had actually had the conversation the morning after, but to tell the General that would be to admit they had gone from nothing to everything within one morning, and all because he had admitted that he was in love with her. Silence fell again and Jack went back to having his eyes face forwards while he checked on Janet; General Hammond had entered the office by this time and was obviously attempting to hold a conversation with her as it started and stopped several times while he watched.

'A report following your visit to P5X-552 confirmed that a sticky substance yourself and Doctor Fraiser had on your skin had "pheromone type properties" Doctor Haze concluded that this was "the catalyst for your behaviour", I take it you have read the report.'

'Yes sir, not that it made any sense to me,' Jack answered with a smile.

'Then you wont deny that it is possible, that your feelings towards Doctor Fraiser at this moment in time are apart of this substance's reaction.'

He could deny it, he had feelings for Janet from the day he met her, her first day she had arrived to SG-1 returning from another planet to bring a plague with them, under the influence of many drugs and the plague itself. Jack clearly remembered reaching out and touching her skin, his fingers gently lining her jaw, and he had hoped back then that her reaction, of taking his hand and rubbing his palm on her cheek, was not a dream.

'I don't believe that to be the case sir. It might now be making it hard to repress my feelings, but I've felt this way towards Janet for a long time.' Jack watched as the General closed his folder slowly and then looked back at him.

'General Hammond tells me that he hasn't noticed any change in yours or Doctor Fraiser's behaviour since the report of her pregnancy was filed, how is it that you've managed to keep this relationship so quiet?'

'We've kept our relationship off-base sir, we agreed early on that other than my allowance to feel the baby move and kick when opportunity permitted, that we would not engage in any form of unnecessary contact while on duty.'

Jack was shocking himself, he was not only still calm at the situation, he was using words he hadn't even through were available in his vocabulary.

'Thank you Colonel, you may go now.'

Jack faltered not moving right away he slowly pushed up from his chair and walked uneasily away. He made his way out of the conference room and began wondering through the corridors until he inadvertently turned into Daniels office.

'Colonel,' Sam greeted him with a look or concern, Jack quirked an eyebrow at her, 'what's going on sir?'

'They're talking to Janet now,' he said a little more dazed than he felt.

'Well, did they say anything to you?' Daniel asked and Jack looked over to him as if he shouldn't be there.

'Asked a lot of questions, read a lot of quotes from reports, that was it really,' he wanted to sit or collapse, he was having a very bad day today and he wondered if it would only get worse, he moved slowly over to the nearest chair and eased himself down before leaning forward to rest his head on Daniels desk. 'I'm having a horrible day Carter.'

He couldn't see anyone from where he rested, Teal'c stood against the wall behind him, Sam sat at the desk to his right, which was also behind him, and Daniel would have been directly ahead of him if he sat up, but it didn't matter the uncomfortable silence that followed was enough to tell him they didn't know what to say that would help.

'I don't think I can lose Janet,' he confessed feeling the pang in his heart as the thought occurred to him.

'I do not believe that possible, O'Neill,' Teal'c voice rang though his brain like a foreign element. He sat up and looked back at the man.

'What do you mean?'

'I do not believe Doctor Fraiser would ever suppress her desire to be with you.'

'It's not the easy Teal'c,' Sam cut in with a grimace on her face. 'They could separate them completely; put either the Colonel or Janet on a base on the other side of the country.'

Jack rested his head back on the desk, he had considered that they would move one of them to another base, but he didn't think of it being that far away. He'd go mad, if the only contact he had was over holidays or on the phone, he wanted to be able to hold her, rub her belly, be there when the baby was born, he wanted to do so much.

It was at this point that just decided he needed to do something drastic, he'd resign, and he'd go wherever she was. His job, or his child and the woman he loved, "not really much of a choice" he thought idly as he heard Carter talk from behind his head, "Cassie's right" he added to himself "I would risk everything for her".

After about an hour of silence, Jack felt a delicate hand rest on his shoulder and opened his eyes to see Janet smiling at him, he raised his head and felt the muscles clench in his neck; he winced and felt her hand move from his shoulder to the tight muscles in his neck. Without caring who saw, Jack reached out and wrapped his arm around her body to pull her closer, slotting her easily between his legs and pressing her stomach against his own.

His arms wrapped around her, resting on her back, Jack leaned down to lay his head on her should, his lips against her neck, she relaxed into him, sliding both her arms up to his neck and beginning a tender massage of the muscles there. He heard movement from somewhere in the room and then the door closed, no one could see them now except Sam, Daniel and Teal'c who had been talking when Janet had stepped in.

'I'm gonna resign,' Jack said against her neck and was forced to sit up when she pushed him back.

'No,' she whispered.

'You can stay here, break the rules by telling me what I'm missi…' Janet's fingers pressed against his lips causing him to stop.

'It's not their choice,' she told him, 'they report back to the chief of staff and the president, and last I heard, the president was in your favour.'

'I'm not putting you at risk, you're a lot smarter than me, and they,' Jack motioned around the room at the other three people, 'they need you here.'

Jack opened his mouth to speak again but was stopped when Janet reached in and kissed him, he let his eyes slide closed, missing the look for admiration that rested on his team's faces. Janet was back against his body, her protruding belly against him and he could feel the movements of his child against his stomach. She pulled away from him and moved his hands to cradle the child before catching his gaze.

'Don't do anything stupid; wait until the report comes back before we do anything. General Domes said something about talking to a few more people before he submits his review, lets just wait and see what happens.'

Jack nodded, he knew she was right, but there was no way he was done yet, if they were going to move either of them, he would resign, and either way, he had a few other things planned; he just had to wait and see.

'I believe you four have a mission to prepare for,' she said looking over at Sam, Jack's eyes never left her face but he caught the nod from his second in command, 'well then, I'll see you all in the infirmary later,' she smiled, pried her body from Jack's arms and left the room. As Jack turned he caught the smug look on Carter's face.

'What?' he asked indignantly.

'Nothing sir.'

~~**~~

A week, it had been a whole week, Janet was slowly going crazy, she was sure of it, next week she'd be working in the academy and probably still impatiently waiting on… what? Someone to tell her she wasn't aloud to work at the SGC? For someone to take away her commission? Or for someone to take Jack away, far away? She hated the suspense of the whole situation.

She leaned forward on the wooden railing outside Jack's cottage and gazed down over the lake and out to the surrounding forest, it was beautiful her, it was breathtaking. The evening sun setting slowly along the tree line was still warm on her face and she closed her eyes as the heated breeze brushed past her on its way to take peak into the log cabin behind her.

The ice cold orange juice in her hand numbed her fingers slightly, but she didn't care, it was a refreshing contradiction to the day's heat. The slowly circling hand on her back told her Jack and stepped out to join her, she opened her eyes to see him leaning on one elbow beside her while his other hand eased the muscles on her back.

She turned and moved into his arms, wrapping her arms high around his chest and under his arms, her head against his chest and she sighed. Despite the stress of waiting and endless wait, somehow he always seemed to relax her, or it could be her current surroundings or even a combination of the two.

'I love you,' he whispered and Janet just hummed into his chest, too content to take in what he had just said. 'Walk with me?' he asked running his hands up her back and down her arms in order to lead her from the small porch and off across the grass towards the woods.

She followed, slowly behind him, her hand still grasped in his as her mind slowly woke up and she began to wonder where he was taking her a why, was he about to stop her in the middle of the forest of something fun and frivolous or was there a purpose to this little stroll.

Janet was preparing to ask the question when he pulled her out into a small clearing off to the side of the house and her breath caught. Ten minutes from his front door, was a small perfectly cared for section of garden, as if Jack had a secret need to tend to flowers and grow fresh vegetables.

'There's another house about twenty minutes away, about a year ago the woman who lives there came and asked if she could use this patch to grow vegetables and such, promised she wasn't a peeping tom,' Jack gave her a boyish smile as she looked around, 'I wasn't using it, so I figured why not.'

'You'll have to introduce me so I can tell her how great she's done here,' Janet said continuing to take in the range of colourful flowers, the patch of growing tomatoes, the small apple tree that was growing along side the firs, it was amazing. 'Why did you show me this Jack?' she asked taking a step forward while Jack moved over to her right.

'It's a distraction,' he said and Janet turned to see Jack down on one knee in amongst the rose bushes with a small velvet box held open towards her. 'Janet,' he said and she watched him swallow hard, 'will you marry me?'

Janet gasped, one hand covering her mouth as she struggled with a flood of emotions, he was crazy, he was insane this could ruin them both, but at the same time she was overwhelmed with love for him, he'd planned this, where, when how, everything. She was hesitating though, and she could see a small amount of fear building in Jack's features as he waited.

'Yes,' it had come out as a breath as apposed to a firm reply. Jack pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger before he climbed from the floor and pulled her body flush to his and kissed her.

~~**~~

'Janet,' Jack said suddenly spotting something on the ride down in the elevator, 'take your ring off,' he told her as they both straightened their uniforms, he watched her as she slipped the silver diamond studded band from her finger and fiddled behind her neck before the ring dropped down to sit beside her dog tags, it's what she had done for the last three days at the academy.

The lift stopped and the doors open and they both sucked in a breath before walking out and heading down the corridor to General Hammond's office. Jack reached the door a few steps ahead of his fiancee and reached up to knock, but Janet stopped him.

'Jack,' she swallowed her own fear, 'don't do anything until we've heard everything they have to say.'

Jack nodded before knocking on the door and waiting with his hand on the handle, he was afraid, he realised this as he watched Janet once again attempting to straighten her uniform shirt out over her belly. They heard the fait "come in" and Jack opened the door, shifting his body out of the way to let Janet enter ahead of him.

'Doctor, Colonel, why don't you take a seat,' General Hammond offered, he was alone in the office and Jack wondered for a moment if he'd got the time of the meeting wrong.

'We would sir, but it'd take Janet three hours to get up again,' he said with a smile as Janet eased herself down into a chair completely ignoring him, Jack was pleased when the General huffed a small laugh at him.

'General Ryan was unable to take this meeting himself, he and the president spent a great deal of time discussing your situation,' he said motioning to the spare chair so Jack would sit. 'The circumstances surround Doctor Fraiser's current condition has weighed heavily towards the result.'

Jack realised he was holding his breath and released it slowly, it was bad enough that they had practically sat in silence all the way here and then became frustrated with each other in the elevator on the way down, but now General Hammond was deliberately avoiding getting to the point.

'They examined every report surround the events on P5X-552, talked to the both of you and members of each of your teams, I believe General Domes was impressed by the fact that no one on base knew there was anything between other than the baby.'

'General, if you wouldn't mind getting to the point, we'd appreciate it.'

'You have the presidents blessing, so long as you continue as you have thus far, he sees no reason to separate the two of you and deprive this operation of two of the best. Affection towards each other outside of the set parameters is forbidden, too many reported accounts will force them re-evaluate their decision, that is barring the day the baby is born and for two day after.'

Jack breathed a sigh of relief, he'd keep his command, his post and his adventures off world, Janet would keep her position as Chief Medical Officer at the SGC and above all, they could be together if they kept it to their private time, which they managed to do so far. To his left, Janet was taking in a few slow deep breathes of her own, one had covering her mouth, the other resting on her stomach and her eyes were closed.

'Janet,' he asked cautiously.

'I'm okay,' she said with a small choke, she was fighting back the need to cry, but Jack was all to aware that her emotions where all over the place lately, just last night she'd gone from teasing him in bed to shouting at him for something he didn't even remember doing.

'I'll give you two a few minutes,' George said and pushed up from the table to head for the conference room. 'Oh and the president wanted to remind you not to forget his invitation to your wedding,' he added before stepping outside and closing the door.

Within seconds Jack had left his chair, turned Janet's to face him and wrapped his arms strongly around her pulling her upper body close to his; he wondered if the set of emotions flooding him that second was anything like what Janet was going through most of the time and decided it was best not to find out.

'Love you,' he whispered against her neck and felt her let out small sob.

'God Jack,' she mumbled, 'I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you,' she whispered. He could feel her breath against his neck and loved that too. 'You've taken my heart Jack, I don't ever want it back,' she looked up into his eyes for a moment before leaning forward and kissing him.

~~**~~

Jack pelted down the corridor and around the corner, Sam close on his heels and Teal'c and Daniel somewhere behind them; he'd gotten the call about half an hour ago and as he and the team were heading out of the SGC it had turned from a trip to the local restaurant to a trip to the Academy Hospital.

Down the next corridor and around another bend Jack caught sight of his daughter, who now, like her mother and his wife, was a Fraiser-O'Neill, and quite proud of the fact.

'Cassie,' he called out as the got closer and the teenager simply pointed to a door opposite where she stood. Jack reached the door and vanished inside with Sam.

'Anyone'd think he was having a baby,' Daniel said walking quickly up to Cassandra.

'I believe that is the case Daniel Jackson,' Teal'c pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

'Ah, that explains all the running then. You okay Cassie?'

'Yeah, but if they have more kids, I'm not staying home with her when she's due,' Cassie said flopping down on the nearby chair and rubbing at her sore hand that Janet had squeezed the life out of during one of her contractions.

They heard nothing as they waited impatiently by the door for news, Cassie had begun pacing shortly after Jack had arrived and Daniel had gone for coffee several times in the last two hours and was fidgeting in his seat on a caffeine high. Teal'c was the only one to stay calm and he sat still in his chair watching his friends with a quirked brow.

After a few hours, Sam eased the door open and all three of them moved to talk to her, she motioned for them to come in quietly and then pushed the door open wider before leading them down a small corridor to the room at the very end.

Jack couldn't believe it, he sat perched on Janet's bed, one arm around her shoulder, the other reached out to stroke the cheek of the small child resting in his wife's arms and his eyes flittered across the baby's features; he couldn't believe that even covered in the fluids from the birth, his baby girl was beautiful.

Tears were streaking down Janet's face as she watched the baby sleeping in her arms, her body ached, she felt drained of life and yet full of life as held the small bundle of joy close to her.

Jack looked up briefly as people came back into the room and smiled at his friends and daughter before motioning Cassie over, the teenager reached the bedside and looked down at the sleeping face.

'Everyone,' Jack said, his throat feeling oddly dry, 'we'd like you to meet Lily.'

+++++


End file.
